And so here is Kate’s Barbie Doll cake.  I baked the cake and Courtney decorated it.  I think it’s pretty good for a first shot at a doll cake.  Here’s how we did it (the cake recipe is from Pampered Chef as well as the Batter Bowl that it is cooked in):

Barbie Doll Cake

1 boxed cake mix (18 – 19 oz), any flavor

2 – 4 cups icing

food coloring

Heat oven to 350.  Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Spray Classic Batter Bowl with Pam (I used the baking kind, the one with flour, just to be sure).  Pour batter into prepared Batter Bowl.  Bake 55 – 65 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes on cooling rack, invert and cool completely before decorating.  Follow same directions and make a second Batter Bowl cake.  Trim 2″ from the bottom of one cake to serve as the base of the skirt; place cut side up on cake platter.  Set second Batter Bowl cake on top of 2″ base.  With the Corer or a knife, hollow out a small round opening in top center of cake and insert Barbie doll wrapped in plastic wrap.  Decorate doll skirt and bodice of doll with tinted icing.  (Here’s what I did because I was in a hurry and didn’t have two Batter Bowls to cook 2 separate cakes,  I made one Batter Bowl cake and then made 2 round 9″ cake layers.  I used one of the 9″ rounds and set the Batter Bowl cake on top of it.  You can trim it so the edges match exactly or let it be wider and make the skirt of the dress wider, it’s up to you.  The first layer we trimmed but it fell apart so when we used the second layer we decided to leave it intact so that it wouldn’t fall apart like the first.)

Here’s the icing recipe I used which is my favorite homemade icing recipe:

Basic Buttercream Icing

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (use vegetable shortening for white icing)

1/2 cup milk or 1 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla or any other desired flavoring

2 pounds powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients on low until smooth.  If stiffer icing is needed, add more sugar,  This is enough icing to cover (and fill, if needed) a 9 x 13″ cake or two 9″ layers or a doll cake!